Pay no attention to the people behind the curtain

Thursday, June 11, 2009

That makes two choice provisions Doyle should veto

I am not a fan of the Milwuaukee Parental Choice Program, and if I could snap fingers and have it disappear tomorrow, I would.

However, that doesn't mean Democrats in the legislature need to be stupid:

Democrats who control the state Assembly voted Thursday to cap participation in Milwaukee's parents' choice program at 19,500 students for the next two years - about 500 fewer students than the number who now attend private schools at state expense.

If it becomes law, the change would reverse a 2006 compromise that would have allowed participation to grow to 22,500.

There are any number of things that could be done to draw parents out of the program and back into the public schools, but this is just a way to build animus where there does not need to be more.

Sen. Rep. Fred Kessler, whose idea this seems to be, has floated a much better idea, which is to spin off the MPCP into its own district, divorcing it from MPS and the Milwaukee tax rolls. He should be pursuing that, rather than this piddly little stuff that won't actually solve anything.

(The second thing that needs vetoing is the dumb bilingual provision. Sorry, Pedro.)